Lana
| birth_place = Gainesville, Florida | death_date = | death_place = | resides = Tampa, Florida | billed = Moscow, Russia | trainer = | debut = October 23, 2013 | retired = }} Catherine Joy "C.J." Perry (March 24, 1985) is an American professional wrestling manager, model, actress, dancer, and singer. Although born in Gainesville, Florida, Perry was raised in Riga, Latvia and speaks fluent Russian. She is currently signed with the professional wrestling promotion WWE under the ring name Lana, where she manages Rusev. Early life The eldest of four siblings, Perry was born in Gainesville, Florida to parents of Portuguese and Venezuelan extraction. She spent several years of her childhood in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, where her father worked as a Christian missionary. Perry and her family remained in Latvia after it declared its independence from the Soviet Union in May 1990. From an early age, Perry aspired to become a ballet dancer like her mother. She attended the Riga Choreography School – the ballet school of the Latvian National Opera – and began dancing with the Latvian National Ballet at the age of 14. At the age of 17, Perry returned to the United States. She initially lived in New York City, where she danced at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center and the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. Perry later enrolled in Florida State University (FSU), majoring in dance and acting because she wanted to "experience the traditional American University" While attending FSU, Perry began attending Florida State Seminoles football games with Jenn Sterger, Fabiola Romero, and several other students, cheering from the bleachers while dressed as "cowgirls". The students – known as the "Florida State Cowgirls" – entered the public consciousness after being acknowledged by commentator Brent Musburger during a game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes that aired on ABC in September 2005. Perry parlayed the exposure into a modelling career, appearing in photoshoots in publications such as the RIDGID Tool Calendar and working as a spokesmodel for the energy drinks Matrix and Red Bull. Upon graduating from FSU, Perry relocated to Los Angeles, California with the aim of working in show business. Music and acting career In 2009, Perry joined "No Means Yes", a girl group signed to Ne-Yo's record label comprising Perry (billed as "C.J."), Kat, Shea and Tanu. The group released one single – titled "Would You Like That" – and recorded two others (titled "7 Years Bad Luck" and "Burn Rubber") before disbanding in 2010. Perry stated on joining "No Means Yes", "A girlfriend of mine in college referred me to the man that was putting the group together. I honestly was so scared to sing and I didn't even know a song to sing at the audition so I sang "Jesus Loves Me." I remember them saying we can work with her tone because she has the right look and she is a model that break dances. I am so thankful to this day for that experience because I do not think I would have ever gotten the role in Pitch Perfect if I hadn't overcome my fear to open my mouth and sing". Perry went on to work as a backup dancer for performers such as Keri Hilson, Nelly, Pink]and Usher. In 2013, Perry starred alongside Kelley Jakle in the music video for Jakle's cover of the Paramore song "Ain't it Fun". Perry trained as an actress at The Groundlings School and under the acting coaches Lesly Kahn and Larry Moss. She went on to appear in acting roles such as an episode of the television program The Game in 2011, the musical comedy film Pitch Perfect in 2012, an episode of the television program Banshee in 2013. She landed the lead role in I.C.I.R.U.S. as Brit in 2011. Perry was cast as a "Legacy Bella" in the sequel Pitch Perfect 2 in 2014. Professional wrestling career WWE (2013-present) Managing Rusev (2013–present) In June 2013, Perry revealed that she had been signed to WWE and was sent to their developmental branch WWE NXT. Perry debuted in NXT on the October 23, 2013 episode of NXT, under the ring name "Lana", scouting Alexander Rusev during his match against C.J. Parker. On the November 6 episode of NXT, Lana became Rusev's "social ambassador", using a Russian accent and developing a character who majored in Foreign Affairs and Business and Social Media Marketing in college. In December 2013, the duo of Rusev and Lana were compared to Ivan Drago and Ludmilla Drago, the antagonists of the 1985 film Rocky IV. Rusev and Lana later appeared at NXT Arrival, where Rusev attacked Xavier Woods and Tyler Breeze. While Rusev made his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 26, 2014, Lana made her main roster debut on the January 31 episode of ''SmackDown'', where she and Rusev in the following weeks appeared in a series of self-promotional videos and speeches. Rusev wrestled his first match on the main roster on the April 7 episode of Raw, squashing Zack Ryder. In early May, Lana began dedicating Rusev's matches to her "hero", President of Russia Vladimir Putin, as well as adopting an Anti-American, Russophilic gimmick. Lana gained mainstream notoriety, when, during an in-ring promo prior to Rusev's match against Jack Swagger at the Battleground pay-per-view event, she made comments blaming the United States for current world events and praising Putin. Although she did not directly mention it, some media outlets said Lana was making reference to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which happened three days before Battleground, to help build heat for Rusev in his feud against Swagger. A representative of WWE later told TMZ.com that the segment was not specifically about the Malaysia Airlines crash, noting that the Rusev-Lana storyline "has been a part of WWE programming for more than three months. WWE apologizes to anyone who misunderstood last night’s segment and was offended.” On the November 3 episode of Raw, Rusev defeated Sheamus to capture the WWE United States Championship. The Ravishing Russian helped Rusev defeat John Cena at WWE Fastlane, but her attempted involvement at WrestleMania 31 backfired, allowing the Cenation leader to hand The Bulgarian Brute his first loss. The Super Athlete fell to John Cena again at Extreme Rules, and was clearly at odds with Lana during the bout. Is their powerful partnership beginning to show weakness? At WWE Payback, Lana’s Super Athlete will face Cena for the United States Championship in an “I Quit” Match. Filmography Film Television Discography Singles In wrestling *'Nicknames' **"The Mistress of Destruction" **'"The Ravishing Russian"' *'Wrestlers managed' **'Rusev' *'Entrance themes' **'"Внимание! (Attention!)"' by CFO$ (April 14, 2014 – present) Championships and accomplishments *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards' **Best Gimmick (2014) with Rusev External links * WWE.com Profile * * Lana on Facebook *Lana Fan Site *Lana's IMDb Profile *Lana's page at Wrestling Data Category:1985 births Category:2013 debuts Category:Actors Category:American wrestlers Category:Dancers Category:Female wrestlers Category:Florida wrestlers Category:World Wrestling Entertainment current roster Category:Managers and valets Category:WWE NXT alumni